Package of flexible material with radial opening extending into a central axial opening and means for preventing inward collapse

ABSTRACT

In order to prevent inward collapse during shipment or handling of the inner wall of a package of flexible material in the nature of a universal type wind having a radial opening extending into the central axial opening through which the inner end of the material is withdrawn, the package being provided with tapering members within the axial opening to guide the individual coils of the material as they are withdrawn, in the space between the cones and the inner wall there is arranged a solid material which is held against the inside coils of the package. The material is one which can be readily removed when the package is ready for use.

United States Patent 1191 Newman et al.

[ 1 Dec. 2, 1975 [75] Inventors: James W. Newman, Scarsdale, N.Y.;

Nicholas M. Bavaro, Hollywood, Fla; Ronald E. Zajac, Yonkers, N.Y.

[73] Assignee: Windings, Inc., Goldens Bridge,

[22] Filed: Sept. 19, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 507,609

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 295,797, Oct. 10,

1972, abandoned.

2,767,938 10/1956 Taylor, Jr. 242/163 2,828,092 3/1958 Taylor, Jr. 242/163 3,380,577 4/1968 Washburn 206/397 3,486,714 12/1969 Gordon 242/163 3,689,005 9/1972 Newman 242/163 Primary Examiner-Stan1ey N. Gilreath [57] ABSTRACT In order to prevent inward collapse during shipment or handling of the inner wall of a package of flexible material in the nature of a universal type wind having a radial opening extending into the central axial opening through which the inner end of the material is withdrawn, the package being provided with tapering members within the axial opening to guide the individual coils of the material as they are withdrawn, in the space between the cones and the inner wall there is arranged a solid material which is held against the inside coils of the package. The material is one which can be readily removed when the package is ready for use.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures [52] US. Cl. 242/163 [51] Int. Cl. B6511 55/02 [58] Field of Search 242/163, 159,170, 171, 242/172, 147 R, 141, 146, 173; 206/389, 407, 409, 397

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 609,934 8/1898 Heusch 242/147 X I VIII/[III] E\?85'3{2'Z doo obo :2" s o t v z E 6 "q e, T

- U.S. Patent Dec.2, 1975 Sheet10f2 3,923,270

II [III/j INVENTORS a ramv U.S. Patant Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,923,270

PACKAGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL WITH RADIAL OPENING EXTENDING INTO A CENTRAL AXIAL OPENING AND MEANS FOR PREVENTING INWARD COLLAPSE RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 295,797, filed oct. 10, 1972 now abandoned.

That application discloses the use of a soft, solid material which engages against the inside of the wound material. It has now been found that the material need not be soft under all conditions, and that a relatively hard material may be used instead.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a package of flexible material with a radial opening into a central axial opening and means for preventing inward collapse during shipment or handling.

2. The Prior Art Packages of flexible material in the nature of universal winds but having a radial opening extending into the central axial opening through which the inner end of the material can be drawn out are known from Taylor US. Pat. No. 2,767,938.

It has also been proposed in US. Pat. No. 3,689,005, Sept. 5, 1972 to utilize cones or other tapering members in the inner axial opening of a package of this type which act as guides for the loops of material being withdrawn and prevent or at least substantially retards the danger of birdsnesting or other entanglement of the individual coils.

Despite the use of these cones, there is danger that rough handling of the package either in shipment or within the plant may cause collapse of parts of the inner walls, which may interfere with payout when the material is to be withdrawn from the package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A solution of this problem has been developed, espe cially for the packaging of a wind in a container that fits the shape of the wind and has two conical payout inserts which nearly meet at the internal center of the wind and which serve to guide the material to the hole and keep loops from tangling in the process.

The concept in general involves the introduction into the wound package of a solid material, which may be a light-weight, inexpensive material such as styrofoam which will tend to prevent inward, and therefore longitudinal, collapse of the coils.

The expression solid material as used herein is intended to cover solid material either in particles of substantial size or in strips or blocks, as contrasted with a liquid or fluid material. In other words, it must be a material which will transfer force from the cones to the inside wall of the package.

One way of doing this is to use a series of internal supports made of a solid material such as a foam plastic, or other light and inexpensive substance, shaped to conform to the inner walls of the wind and shaped to fit the end parts of the curved surfaces of the cone inserts. These are the same length as the width of the wind and sufficient in number and width to cover most of the inside surface of the wind to be protected (for instance, three or four pieces each making part of a circle equal to from 15 to 20 percent of the internal circumference of the wind, thus covering 50 to percent of the internal wind surface). Their thickness should correspond exactly, particularly near the ends, to the exact distance between the shaped cones and the internal wall of the wind. By connecting the series of supports with rings of elastic, engaged in grooves in the outside of the inserts, they can be wedged or expanded outward by insertion of the cones into their axial center and thus exert holding pressure against the wall of the wind. By withdrawal of only one of the cones the elastic will draw the adjacent ends of the pieces together in a close cluster, thus enabling one hand to remove them all at once. The angle formed by the fact that one of the ends are drawn together while the other ends are held wedged apart serves the purpose of disconnecting the forms from the wind surface with a minimum of disturbance or rubbing. The supports are then discarded (thrown away) and the cone replaced to make the package ready for payout. The cone will be marked for correct positioning.

It is likewise possible to omit the rubber band or elastic member. In this case, both cones are removed and the inserts can be allowed to fall out of the core space or be removed by hand or with needles or hooks.

In another aspect, small separate granules such as spheres or lumps 10 of polystyrene foam which are quite inexpensive are used to fill the cavity of air space which is surrounded by the inside wall of the wind in a sufficiently complete manner to exert a relatively soft, non-damaging pressure on the inside coils and thus keep them in place, and which can be easily removed by pouring or dumping and discarded before use by the user.

The insert cones are attached to the insides of poly ethylene snap-on lids. The ring-disc used to contain the ends of shrink-wrap packages can be cut to the exact size of the inside of the snap-on lid. The wind should be wound to an outside diameter which allows the ring ends to protrude beyond this diameter so that when covered by shrink-wrap they offer a secure holding for the snap-on lid. One lid and cone are firmed in place. The wind is positioned with the open end up and the remaining cavity is filled with styrofoam beads or beads of other solid material. The open end is covered with another snap-on lid and shipped with this product is an extra cone-attached lid, so that the user can remove one lid, dump the bead contents, and replace with a cone-bearing lid, so marked that the cone is placed in the right position with respect to the payout hole. Cone-bearing lids can also be furnished the user in quantity for re-use instead of being shipped extra with every package.

It is also possible to place a disposable lid on one end of a wind, fill the cavity with Styrofoam beads and cover the other end with another disposable lid. The user takes off both lids, a fixture to hold the winid being furnished which would have conical inserts of exactly the right dimensions, or a supply of cone-attached lids can be shipped as disposables or furnished for re-use.

It is possible to enclose one end of the wind with a cone-bearing lid as described above. The wind is set down with open end up. The cavity is filled with beads to the top of the upturned cone. A disc or ringsupported cone is fixed to the other end containing holes in the flat top part of the cone. This cone must thus have clearance of at least 1/4 inch between the maximum external circumference of the cone and the internal circumference of the wind. Styrofoam beads are forced into the remaining cavity of the wind through a tube that can be inserted in the cone holes. When full, the cone is covered with a snap-on lid. The customer will remove the lid, shake out the beads through the holes and proceed to use the package. In place of the cones above described, the cone construction could be made of wire or wire-like substance with a multiplicity of open spaces through which to introduce and remove the styrofoam particles.

It will be noted in all the forms there is at least a small space between the innermost coils and the outside of the cones.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows in cross-section a package embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3, 4, and show cross-sections of a further modification of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a coil 2 of flexible material wound in a universal type wind and having a radial opening 21 extending into its central axial opening through which the free end 22 of the material is led out for twistless payout.

The coil is enclosed in a casing or container 3 having covers 12 which support tapering members such as cones 4 which enter into the axial opening and extend' almost up to the center of the package.

Packages of this type are described in the patents referred to above.

According to the first modification of the invention, when the wind is finished and enclosed in the casing 3, one of the covers 12 and the attached cone 4 are inserted into one end. Then three blocks 5 of Styrofoam or similar solid, light-weight and inexpensive material are assembled together with a pair of rubber bands 8, which engage in grooves in the outer surface of the blocks, and are slipped in through the open end of the axial opening until they engage the lower conical member. These blocks engage between the inner surface of the wind and the tapered member.

The blocks have ribs which engage in grooves in the cones 4 so as to space and center the members properly around the package.

When the material of the package is to be used, one of the covers 12 is removed and the blocks are pulled out. The rubber band collapses the free ends, making this removal easier. However the use of rubber bands is not essential, and the arrangement can be used with plain blocks, which can be removed with the fingers or with suitable hooks.

In the form of FIG. 3, when the package has been wound and one of the covers with the conical member 4 has been pressed in position, a mass of granular members such as spheres or chucks 10 of styrofoam or the like is inserted into the package and the other conical member is then inserted so as to spread the granular material apart and against the inner wall of the package. In this arrangement, when the package is to be used, one of the covers is removed, the granular material is dumped out and the cover is replaced.

FIG. 4 shows another arrangement in which one of the covers is placed in position, and the whole interior is then filled with granular material 10. A plain flat cover 23 is then used to close the package. When the material is to be used, the cover 23 is removed, the material 10 is dumped and a cone-carrying end member is inserted.

FIG. 5 shows an arrangement in which one of the cone-carrying covers such as 24 which carries cones l5 and 16 is provided with a plurality of holes 17. Through these holes, after the wind is completed and enclosed in the container 3, granular or other particles of styrofoam or the like are blown in pipes through the holes 17 until they fill the interior of the package. A suitable cover can then be applied over the hole 17 and upon removal of this cover the material 10 can be dumped out, or cover 24 may be removed in its entirety to expedite such dumping.

It has further been found that the withdrawal or payout from the package in many instances is improved if a few of the loose particles, particularly if they are substantially round, are left within the package. For example, if around ten or twenty of the particles of FIG. 3 are not removed, the payout seems to be improved, particularly when the package is laid on its side.

We claim:

1. A package of flexible material of the universal type having a central axial opening and a radial opening extending into said axial opening through which the inner end of the material is led out, and having an enclosing casing, tapering members supported by said casing and extending into the axial opening from the ends of said package, a solid material filling at least the outer area of the axial space around said tapering members, said tapering members holding the filling material against the inner surface of the flexible material to prevent collapse thereof, said solid material comprising a plurality of blocks, each block extending from end to end of the axial opening and having ends engaging between said tapering members and the inner surface of the flexible material.

2. Package as claimed in claim 1, having means for holding said blocks together in position.

3. A package of flexible material of the universal type having a central axial opening and a radial opening extending into said axial opening through which the inner end of the material is led out, and having an enclosing casing, a solid material within at least the outer area of the axial opening, and means holding the solid material against the inner surface of the flexible material to prevent collapse thereof, said solid material comprising a plurality of blocks, each block extending from end to end of the axial opening. 

1. A package of flexible material of the universal type having a central axial opening and a radial opening extending into said axial opening through which the inner end of the material is led out, and having an enclosing casing, tapering members supported by said casing and extending into the axial opening from the ends of said package, a solid material filling at least the outer area of the axial space around said tapering members, said tapering members holding the filling material against the inner surface of the flexible material to prevent collapse thereof, said solid material comprising a plurality of blocks, each block extending from end to end of the axial opening and having ends engaging between said tapering members and the inner surface of the flexible material.
 2. Package as claimed in claim 1, having means for holding said blocks together in position.
 3. A package of flexible material of the universal type having a central axial opening and a radial opening extending into said axial opening through which the inner end of the material is led out, and having an enclosing casing, a solid material within at least the outer area of the axial opening, and means holding the solid material against the inner surface of the flexible material to prevent collapse thereof, said solid material comprising a plurality of blocks, each block extending from end to end of the axial opening. 